This is 30: Freeland celebrates birthday with a win

DENVER -- Too often this season, Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland couldn’t fully enjoy his good works.

A tiny sequence of pitches or a defensive play gone awry here, or some poor run support there, meant the team had won just three of his first eight starts this season.

But Sunday was Freeland’s 30th birthday. Surely, he could finish it in celebration.

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It turned out to be a real blast. Freeland struck out a season-high eight in six innings and saw fellow birthday boy Brenton Doyle, 25, hit a home run in a 4-0 victory over the Phillies at Coors Field.

Freeland even showed up for an after-party of sorts. A squabble between Rockies reliever Jake Bird and Phillies star Bryce Harper led to benches-clearing anger. Freeland stepped out of the dugout in a ripped T-shirt, shorts, tights and Crocs.

Freeland said he was getting treatment in the clubhouse when the altercation started. “So don’t ask me about that,” he said.

At any rate, Freeland, Bird and Justin Lawrence fashioned the Rockies’ fourth shutout of the season and second against the formidable Phils, the defending NL champions.

“It’s always nice when you can seal everything up and get that win,” said Freeland, who has a 3.16 ERA and a 4-4 record that could be far better with a few breaks. “My goal every outing is to leave my team with the best possible chance to win a ballgame.”

An adrenaline-driven fellow, Freeland is showing a cooler head. After losing efforts, he begins and ends with an honest assessment of sequences he fell short. Defense (an area the Rockies have improved dramatically this month) and run support are beyond his control, so he leaves them alone.

The mature focus served him well Sunday.

Freeland threw 88 pitches, many under stress. He faced runners in scoring position and fewer than two out in the first, second, third and sixth innings. All but two of his strikeouts came with runners on base.

Manager Bud Black said Freeland has managed the difficult balance of being an intense competitor and a cool craftsman. Black admitted that sometimes he forgets how much time has gone by since Freeland, Germán Márquez and Antonio Senzatela came together in 2017 and helped the Rockies to postseason berths that year and the next. Black discussed Freeland’s maturity and technical acumen, such as using the same release point for his various pitches.

“He's a veteran pitcher now, and he’s under control,” Black said. “He’s clear-thinking. He understands situations. I can go on about what it takes to do the right things during the course of the game to win it.”

The Rockies lost Friday, with Harper knocking a late two-run double, and on Saturday, with Harper blasting a homer. The Rockies are last in the NL West. But they have been, according to Black, “playing pretty solid” while winning eight of 10 before the Phillies showed up.

Freeland knew the importance of putting the team back on track.

“You don't want to get swept -- you want to salvage a series as much as you can,” Freeland said. “I wouldn't say it's a must win, but it's one of those things to right the ship and get back on track to do that winning. And it starts with pitching.”